Ryan Murphy's blog

USA Today reports on several states restricting in-state tuition rates:

In the past two years, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma have refused in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the USA illegally with their parents but grew up and went to school in the state. That represents a reversal from earlier this decade, when 10 states passed laws allowing in-state rates for such students.

You can read the rest of the story, from USA Today, by clicking here.

There has been a swell of applause in the 259 comments on the story’s page, mostly along the lines of “This is great news. Just take a poll on what REAL Americans want to do with the ILLEGAL Alien Immigrants”. You can expect the same knee jerk reaction in the morning from AM pundits and their rabble roused audience.

However, I have to dispute the predictable “conservative” reaction to this news.

The argument being perpetuated in other states has been that in-state tuition should be a benefit reserved for citizens, not simply residents.

However, at least in Texas, the process of proving your in-state residency also proves that you (or your family) are paying property taxes, whether to a landlord or directly to the state. That’s important, since the in-state tuition discount for college and university students comes from the state’s collection of property taxes. Thus, even a family of illegal immigrants is paying into the system from which the benefit of in-state tuition is derived.

Excluding the offspring of anyone, illegal immigrant or otherwise, who’s been paying into the system for years or decades is wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I’m against illegal immigration. But, although we must address the growing and significant problem of illegal immigration, this method is not the way to do it and should be regarded as inept policy by reactionary politicians.